Hello Riya,I know the most common size of skin diameter is 8⅔-8¾ inches for synthetic heads used with Egyptian type Darbuka.The size and especially the height of its body may differ. Increasing size make it more expensive, but the sounds become better.With Pakistani, Turkish or diverse clay Darbukas I have no idea...

Height can vary from brand to brand, but i think the average height for a standard darbuka is 17"-17.5" (with 8.5"-8.75" skins). Then there are sombati drums which are around 18.5" i think (with 9" skins), and doholla drums at 19" (with 10" skins). From my research i've noticed that sombati size seems to be very popular and highly regarded, though i could not say from personal experience as i do not own one…yet.

You can also get miniature darbukas (specifically aimed at children) that are about 12" high with small skins. I have one just for fun, and it is small enough to throw into a backpack, but it is high pitched and not as good sound as a larger darbuka.

One piece of advice i can give from experience is to seriously consider what brand/type of skin head you want before you buy a darbuka. Some brands will do the same size as each other giving you a wide range of skin choice and ready availability to buy replacement heads for your darbuka. Skins such as Remo and Powerbeat are great and offer 8.75" size which will fit standard Gawharet el Fan darbukas. They also do 9" skins for GEF sombati drums too. This gives great choice for sound on your darbuka, and sound is very important!

My first darbuka was a Meinl and unfortunately it takes an odd size skin, so i can only get replacement heads from Meinl (they are hard to buy in my country - i have to import them from Germany). So with this one, i have not been able to change the head to anything else, and buying new skins is difficult - i wish i had researched skin sizes and availability before buying!

I now have a GEF mother of pearl darbuka with a Remo 8.75" 'fish skin' on it. It sounds fantastic and i also have Powerbeat or Remo 'turquoise mist' skin to change to if i want!

In my opinion ceramic is better. Darbuka is my main instrument. There isn't one darbuka that is used for oud music in special. There are different size darbuka, They are categorized by a 4 screw a 6 screw and a 8 screw being the deepest sounding of all due to its volume. The most popular one is a 6 screw darbuka because it can be used as both bass beats and fast sharp filler portions. But a 4 screw is more suitable for the sharp fillers (QAssim) and the 8 screw is to make more bass. Am not a pro... just a enthusiast.